BTS Meeting +10 Year Old Records: A Simple Analysis

BTS AKA the Record Breakers…..

Wandering Shadow
13 min readJun 20, 2020
Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

(Article updated on 2024)

South Korean boy group BTS is at the top of their game, and it is becoming a norm for them to achieve so many historical moments for a non-English and Asian artist. From historical stadium tours, worldwide sales, streaming records to their global power as leaders and influencers, the seven members reached foreign shores, which seemed beyond reach for an artist from South Korea, singing in Korean.

If I start talking about each achievement that BTS has created or broken, I might end up writing a massive thesis! So instead of talking about each result, let’s talk about something different: breaking or reaching records that are over 10 years old. In this article, I used the time frame of records held or achieved for over “10 years” as ten years (decade) is a challenging number for an artist to reach or break. Keep in mind that reaching a +10-year-old record is not an easy task for any artist because of:

  • Change in Music Market & Trend
  • Change in Music Consumption
  • Streaming Era

You will need to have impactful music and influence to be able to overpower the standards of the music markets in current times. BTS not only wrote hundreds of new and rare milestones, but they also reached and broke old records.

In the following sections, I talked about some records that BTS have broken or reached based on the information I have found (so far):

Album Records

Best Selling Physical Korean Album

  • Previous Record Held: 24 Years

In 2019, Map of the Soul: Persona broke a 24-year-old sales record set by Kim Gunmo in 1995 and became the best selling physical Korean album in history. But in 2020, BTS broke their own record with Map of the Soul: 7 surpassing over 4 million physical sales.

1 Million Physical Sales with 1 Album in Gaon

  • Last Time Achieved: 16 Years

In 2017, Love Yourself: Her surpassed 1 million pure physical copies (no repackage counted) in the Gaon Albums chart making BTS the first Korean artist to achieve this in Gaon history after 16 years since Korean boy group g.o.d’s 4th album in 2001.

The Highest Monthly Korean Sales

  • Previous Record Held: 17.5 Years

In 2018, BTS sold over 1.66 million physical copies with Love Yourself: Tear in the month of May. This marked the highest monthly sales of any Korean album released since 2000 (precisely 17 years and 8 months), when Korean ballad singer Jo Sung Mo sold 1,705,127 copies of his third album in a single month. But in August 2018, BTS finally broke Jo Sung Mo’s record when Love Yourself: Answer reached 1,933,450 sales according to the Gaon’s Monthly Chart.

Double Million Sales for a Korean Album

  • Last Time Achieved: 17.5 Years

Love Yourself: Answer surpassed 2 million physical sales in 2018 which made BTS the first Korean artist to achieve this with a single album in 17.5 years. The last Korean artist to surpass 2 million sales was Jo Sung-mo for Jo Sung Mo Vol.3 — Let Me Love in 2001.

Triple Million Sales for a Korean Album

  • Last Time Achieved: 22 Years

BTS made a splash when their album Map of the Soul: Persona surpassed 3 million physical sales in April 2019. This was the first time a Korean artist reached this number since 1997 when Kim Jong-hwan’s album For Love sold a reported estimation of 3 million copies.

Four Million Physical Sales for an Asian Artist

  • Last Time Achieved: 17 Years

BTS’s latest album Map of the Soul: 7 surpassed over 4 million physical sales making BTS the first Asian artist to do so since Thai pop singer Thongchai McIntyre. A Thai article reported that according to GMM Grammy, he sold out over 5 million copies (excluding the live concert VCD copies) for his album Chud Rab Kaek in 2002. Regarding official physical sales from Japan, Hikaru Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki surpassed over 4 million sales with their albums Distance and A Best respectively in the Annual Oricon Albums Top 100 Chart 2001.

Five Million Physical Sales for an Asian Artist

  • Last Time Achieved: 20 Years

In 2022, Map of the Soul: 7 surpassed 5 million physical sales making BTS the first Asian artist to do so since Thai pop singer Thongchai McIntyre. According to a Thai article, GMM Grammy said that he sold over 5 million copies for his album Chud Rab Kaek in 2002. For official physical sales in Japan, Japanese rock duo B’z surpassed 5 million physical sales with their album B’z The Best “Pleasure” in 1998 (no confirmation about albums Distance and A Best if they reached 5M).

Foreign Album at #1 in the USA

  • Last Time Achieved: 12 Years

When Love Yourself: Tear charted at #1 in the Billboard 200 chart in 2018, BTS became the first artist to get a #1 with a foreign album since Il Divo who topped the chart with Ancora in 2006.

Foreign Album at #1 in the USA (Excluding Classical Crossover Albums)

  • Last Time Achieved: 23 Years

If we exclude classical crossover albums from Josh Groban and Il Divo, then Love Yourself: Tear was the first foreign album in 23 years to go #1, the previous being Selena’s Dreaming of You in 1995.

The Group with Three #1 Albums in the USA in less than a Year

  • Last Time Achieved: 22 Years

BTS got their third #1 in the Billboard 200 chart with Map of the Soul: Persona in 2019, earning them three #1 albums in the USA in less than a year since The Beatles in Nov 1996.

Fastest Group with Four #1 Albums in the USA

  • Last Time Achieved: 52 Years

BTS became the group to get four #1 albums in the shortest amount of time in the Billboard 200 since The Monkees (1967) and The Beatles (1968). They are currently the 3rd fastest group (1 year, 9 months) to get four #1 Albums in Billboard 200 after The Monkees (1 year, 21 days) and The Beatles (1 year, 5 months).

Fastest Group with Five #1 Albums in the USA

  • Last Time Achieved: 52 Years

In 2020, BTS earned their fifth #1 album on the Billboard 200 with Be. BTS became the fastest group to generate five #1 albums since The Beatles did around 1966–1968) under one year and five months.

Foreign Artist with Two #1 Albums in the UK

  • Last Time Achieved: 14 Years

When BTS got two #1 albums in the UK Official Albums chart with Map of the Soul: Persona (April 2019) and Map of the Soul: 7 (Feb 2020), they became the first foreign artist to achieve this since Il Divo who got their first two #1 albums for Il Divo (Nov 2004) and Ancora (Nov 2005).

Foreign Artist with #1 in Oricon’s Mid-Year Album Chart in Japan

  • Last Time Achieved: 36 Years

In 2020, Map of the Soul: 7 became the first album by a foreign artist in 36 years to hit #1 on the Oricon’s mid-year album chart in the first half since Michael Jackson’s Thriller in 1984.

Highest First Week Album Sales (Foreign Male Act) in Japan

  • Previous Record Held: 10 Years

In 2020, BTS’s Japanese album Map of the Soul: 7 — The Journey broke the highest first week album sales for a foreign male artist in history with 564,000 copies sold. The previous record was held by TVXQ’s Best Selection 2010 which sold 413,000 copies in the first week.

Highest First Week Album Sales (Korean Act) in Japan

  • Previous Record Held: 18 Years

In 2021, BTS, THE BEST broke the record for the highest first week sales by a Korean Act in Oricon’s history with 782,000 copies sold. It broke a 18 old-year record which was held by BoA for Valenti in 2003.

Asian Act in the IFPI’s Top 10 Global Albums

  • Last Time Achieved: 17 Years

When BTS entered the IFPI’s Top 10 Best Selling Albums chart for the first time in 2018, they became the first Asian artist to debut in the Top 10 since Utada Hikaru who debuted at #10 for her album Distance in 2001. But not only that, BTS managed to debut two albums simultaneously in the chart with Love Yourself: Tear (#3) and Love Yourself: Answer (#2) (first time for a non-English Artist to achieve). BTS also became the first non-English artist to debut in the IFPI’s Top 10 Global Recording Artists at #2.

Foreign Group/Male Artist with 3 Consecutive Weeks at #1 on Oricon Albums Chart

  • Last Time Achieved: 17 Years

In 2021, BTS, THE BEST became the first album by a foreign group and foreign male artist to spend 3 consecutive weeks at #1 on the Oricon Albums Chart since Queen in 2004.

Foreign Artist with #1 in Oricon’s Annual Album Chart in Japan

  • Last Time Achieved: 37 Years

In 2021, BTS, The Best went #1 in the Oricon’s Annual Album Ranking with 993,000 copies sold, making BTS the first foreign artist since Michael Jackson (1984) and Elvis Presley (1971) to top the Oricon’s Annual Album Rankings.

1 Million Sales for an Album by a Foreign Act in Japan

  • Last Time Achieved: 16 Years

In 2022, BTS, the Best surpassed 1 million sales on Oricon, making it the first album by a foreign artist to do since BoA’s “Best of Soul” in 2005. BTS is also the first foreign male artist to reach this milestone in 17 years since Queen with Jewels (Very Best Of Queen) in 2004.

3 Albums Charting Simultaneously in IFPI Albums Chart

  • Last Time Achieved: 11 Years

In the IFPI Global Top 10 Albums Chart 2020, BTS became the first Artist to chart 3 albums at the same time (#1 Map Of The Soul: 7; #2 Be; #8 Map Of The Soul: 7 ~ The Journey) in the IFPI Global Top 10 Albums Chart 2020 since three albums of Michael Jackson charted in 2009 (#3 This Is It; #8 Thriller; #9 Number Ones).

Most Weeks at #1 in Melon Albums Chart

  • Previous Record Held: 14 Years

In 2020, Map of the Soul: 7 broke the record for the album with the most weeks (35 weeks) at #1 of all time in Melon Albums Chart. The previous record was held by Perfect by Buzz since 2006. (Check Melon search page for data)

Single Records

#1 in Hot 100 for an Asian artist

  • Last time Achieved: 57 Years

In 2020, BTS became the first Asian artist to debut at #1 in the Billboard Hot 100 Singles with their single “Dynamite”. Overall, BTS is the second Asian Artist to earn a #1 spot since Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto who peaked at #1 in 1963 with “Sukiyaki”.

#1 on Hot 100 on Debut and Second Week for a Group

  • Last time Achieved: 22 Years

Dynamite is the overall 20th song to debut at #1 on Hot 100 and to remain #1 for a second week. It is also the first song by a group to achieve this since Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” which was released on 1998.

Top 2 Positions in the Hot 100 for a Group

  • Last Time Achieved: 11 Years

On Oct 2020, when “Savage Love (Laxed — Siren Beat) [BTS Remix]” and “Dynamite” charted at #1 and #2 simultaneously in the Hot 100, it made BTS the first group to occupy the Top 2 spots in the Hot 100 since Black Eyed Peas in 2009 with “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling.”

Non-English Song in Hot 100 Top 5 by a Duo/Group

  • Last Time Achieved: 23.5 Years

On March 2020, BTS’s title track “On” charted at #4 in the American chart Hot 100, making it the first non-English-language song to chart in the top 5 by a duo or group since Los del Rio’s “Macarena” who peaked at #1 in 1996.

Fastest “First Three” #1's in Hot 100

  • Last Time Achieved: 23.5 Years

In 2020, BTS grabbed their 3rd #1 in the Hot 100 with “Life Goes On”. This made BTS having the fastest “first three” #1 singles since The Beatles in 1964 who did in a span of two months and three days.

Fastest Four #1’s in Hot 100

  • Last Time Achieved: 51 Years / 10 Years

In 2021, BTS earned their 4th #1 in the Hot 100 with “Butter”. BTS became the group with the fastest “first” four Hot 100 #1 over a span of nine months since the Jackson 5 in 1970. Among all the quartets of Hot 100 #1, BTS earned the fastest four Hot 100 #1's since Rihanna did in 2010–11.

Fastest Five #1’s in Hot 100

  • Last Time Achieved: 33 Years

In 2021, “Permission to Dance” became BTS’ 5th song to go #1 in the Hot 100. BTS has achieved its five Hot 100 #1's in a span of ten months and two weeks which is the fastest since Michael Jackson in nine months and two weeks in 1987–88.

Fastest Six #1’s in Hot 100

  • Last Time Achieved: 55 Years

In 2021, BTS achieved the fastest accumulation of six #1’s in the Hot 100 since The Beatles did in 1964–66 when their collaborative single “My Universe” with Coldplay became BTS’ sixth song to go #1.

Foreign Artist with 1 Million Pre-orders for Single in Japan

  • Last Time Achieved: 24 Years

In 2019, “Lights/Boy With Luv” got the highest pre-order sales on the first day of its release with 1 million pre-orders since Celine Dion with her 1995 single “To Love You More”.

Foreign Artist to get 1 Million Single Certification in RIAJ Japan

  • Last Time Achieved: 24 Years

BTS was awarded 1 Million RIAJ certification for their single “Lights/Boy With Luv”, making them the third foreign artist (first male foreign artist) to achieve this after Mariah Carey and Celine Dion for their singles “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (1994) and “To Love You More” (1995) respectively (this is for physical sales only). They also achieved this for the first time for overall male artists (in 11 years & 11 months) since Masafumi Akikawa who got it for his single “A Thousand Winds” in 2007.

Group/Duo with the Top 2 Simultaneously Rankings in US Digital Songs

  • Last Time Achieved: 10.5 Years

On March 2020, BTS managed to grab the top 2 spots simultaneously in the US Digital Songs with “On” at #1 and “My Time” at #2. They became the first group/duo to achieve this since The Black Eyed Peas when they charted in the top 2 spots with “I Gotta Feeling” at #1 and “Boom Boom Pow” at #2 in 2009.

Artist with #1 on Hot 100 and Songs of the Summer with Different Songs at the Same Time

  • Last Time Achieved: 11 Years

In 2021, BTS’ song “Permission to Dance” went #1 on the Hot 100, while their other song “Butter” remained #1 in the Songs of the Summer chart. BTS became the first artist to go #1 on Hot 100 and Songs of the Summer Charts with 2 different songs simultaneously since Katy Perry in 2010.

Awards

Grammy Nomination for a Korean Singer

  • Last Time Achieved: 25 Years

On November 2020, BTS became the first Korean pop singer and first Korean group to get a Grammy nomination for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” with “Dynamite”. In terms of overall Korean singers, the last Korean singer to get a Grammy nomination was Sumi Jo who is a South Korean lyric coloratura soprano. She got her first two nominations and first win in 1992 and last nomination in 1995.

Most BBMAs Wins for a Group/Duo

  • Previous Record Held: 17 Years

In 2022, BTS won 3 awards at the BBMAs 2022, earning a total of 12 wins, breaking the record for the Group/Duo with the most wins in the BBMAs history. Previously, Destiny’s Child held the record for 17 years with a total of 11 awards.

Most “Best Group” Wins in MTV VMAs

  • Previous Record Held: 18 Years

In 2022, BTS broke the record for the most wins for “Best Group” (4 wins) in the MTV Video Music Awards. Rock Band “No Doubt” held the record since 2004 with 3 wins.

Foreign Act to win “Best Pop” in MTV VMAs

  • Last Time Achieved: 21 Years

In 2020, BTS’ song “On” won “Best Pop” at the MTV Video Music Awards. BTS was the first foreign artist to win the award since Ricky Martin won the award in 1999 for “Livin’ la Vida Loca”.

Song with the Most Music Show Wins in South Korea

  • Previous Record Held: 29 Years

In 2021, “Dynamite” became the song with the most Korean music show wins in history with 32 wins. The previous record was held by Shin Seung Hun for “Invisible Love” in 1992.

Artist with the Most Music Show Wins in a Single Year

  • Previous Record Held: 28 Years

In 2020, BTS became the artist with the most Korean music show wins in a single year with 43 wins (currently 51 wins in 1 year). The record was previously held by Seo Taiji and Boys for 28 years (1992) with 42 wins.

Group/Duo to Win “Best Song” in MTV EMAs

  • Last Time Achieved: 14 Years

In 2020, BTS’ song “Dynamite” won “Best Song” at the MTV Europe Music Awards. BTS was the first Group/Duo to win the award since American soul duo Gnarls Barkley won the award in 2006 for “Crazy”.

Group/Duo to Win “Favorite Pop/Rock Song” in AMAs

  • Last Time Achieved: 26 Years

In 2021, “Dynamite” grabbed “Favorite Pop/Rock Song” at the American Music Awards. BTS was the first Group/Duo to win the award since Boyz II Men won the award in 1995 for “I’ll Make Love to You”.

Artist with Multiple “Musician of the Year” Wins in KMAs

  • Last Time Achieved: 13 Years

In 2019, BTS earned their 2nd “Musician of the Year” win at the Korean Music Awards, becoming the first artist to win that Grand Prize multiple times since Lee Tzsche did in 2004 and 2006. BTS also eventually became the Artist with the most “Musician of the Year” wins in 2022.

Non-Big 3 Artist Winning “Album Of The Year” at the MAMAs

  • Last Time Achieved: 11 Years

When Love Yourself: Tear won their first “Album of The Year” at the Mnet Asian Music Awards 2018, BTS became the first Non-Big 3* artist to win this Grand Prize in MAMAs since Epik High did in 2007 for their album Remapping the Human Soul.

Non-Big 3 Artist Winning “Album Of The Year” at the GDAs

  • Last Time Achieved: 10 Years

In 2017, BTS became the first Non-Big 3* artist to “Album of The Year” at the Golden Disc Awards (GDAs) in 10 years since SG Wannabe did in 2007 for The Sentimental Chord.

Notes

  • Finding over 10 year old records for single tracks in South Korea is not possible because there are no known chart records for digital singles before 2010.
  • This report will be updated with time when new verified data and records come.
  • *The Big 3 refers to three K-music entertainment companies SM , YG and JYP who were the most powerful and successful labels in the k-music industry.

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Wandering Shadow

I love to serve tea, data and facts about BTS. My Twitter / IG is @shadow_twts